What do the US, Liberia and Burma have in common?

March 27, 2010

No, it’s not their political systems (!). They are the only three countries in the world that don’t use the metric system.

If the US went metric (as they’ve been threatening to do for years, but have never had the political will to do so), then simple things like parts, drill bits, Allen keys, fabric measurements, shoe and clothing sizes, etc. *might* have a chance of being standardized around the world. Global manufacturers would not have to tool up to make a metric version and a non-metric version, packaging wouldn’t have to have two versions printed on it, etc. The annual savings globally could stretch into billions of dollars.